The Metals of Antiquity are the seven metals identified and used by humans in Europe and the Middle East in prehistoric times. They are gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron, and mercury.
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These are the metals used in early metallurgy and subsequent alchemy. One of the goals of alchemy is to create noble metals like gold from base metals like lead. Alchemical recipes on dyeing metals and gemstones abound.
Symbolic Meanings of the Metals
Each metal corresponds to a celestial body, symbol and day of the week. In combination, such as fused into an amulet, they've been used to protect against disease.
Gold - Sun ☉︎ Sunday
Has any metal aroused the passions so much as gold? On Earth, gold appears in rock ores formed from the Precambrian time, the earliest period of the Earth's formation. The first known use of gold is for spiritual purposes.
Pure gold is edible, sometimes used in cuisine. German liqueurs Goldwasser, a root and herb drink, and Goldschläger, a cinnamon Schnapps contain flakes of gold. Gold is associated with the 50th wedding anniversary.
The spiritual meaning of gold includes purity, wisdom and enlightenment. Gold relates to the divine and transformation. Like silver it's a metal of attraction, lucky for money and love. In alchemy practitioners seek to turn lesser quality metals into facsimiles of gold and silver.
Silver - Moon ☾ Monday
Silver has the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. It's first used as money, jewelry and ornaments and not considered a candidate for metallurgy studies due to its poor structural strength.
The earliest known coins come from the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor around 600 BCE. They're made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. Silver is associated with the 25th anniversary.
In folklore, silver has mystic powers. Silver represents magic of the moon and the feminine principle. It also has a male aspect as seen in moon god figures like Sin of Mesopotamia, the father of the Sun.
A soul mirror, the moon in the still of night shows the truth. It's a symbol of elemental water, intuition, dreams, flow of prosperity. In alchemy the moon represents lunar caustic or silver nitrate, a salt of silver. In ancient Egypt, bones of the gods are silver, and their flesh is gold.
Iron - Mars ♂ Tuesday
The most common element on Earth, iron forms much of Earth's inner and outer core. Humans learned to extract iron from ore in Eurasia in about 2000 BCE. Iron weapons and tools replaced those of copper alloys. Mass production of tools and weapons, and iron alloys like steel, mark the Iron Age in history.
Iron is the popular symbol of strength, fortitude, honor, courage and confidence. It gives power and the knowledge to use it wisely. The 11th anniversary is associated with steel, an alloy of iron and carbon.
Traditionally, iron is known to dispel the power of malevolent fairies, witches, nixies and other creatures of the supernatural. An iron knife buried beneath the doorstep prevents evil magic from entering.
Mercury - Mercury ☿ Wednesday
Also called quicksilver, mercury is the only metal known to be liquid at room temperature. It also evaporates at room temperature sending off unseen fumes. Mercury is one of the primary metals in alchemy and an element of the tria prima, with sulfur and salt.
From the Renaissance it's suggested for treating syphilis. In raw form, mercury is found in the element cinnabar (HgS) as a red ore, which can be ground up to create the color vermillion. Paleolithic cave paintings of 30,000 years ago in Spain and France use cinnabar.
Mercury is known by the ancient Egyptians before 1500 BCE. The first Emperor of unified China dies after consuming an alchemic mixture of mercury and jade, said to be the elixir of life. Finding an Elixir of Life is a common goals of alchemists world-wide.
Spiritually the metal mercury represents human consciousness and the human spirit. Because of its captivating liquid nature, mercury is thought to have supernatural powers. In medieval alchemy mercury represents the spirit. Sulfur is soul, salt is body.
Tin - Jupiter ♃ Thursday
A soft, silvery, malleable metal, tin is often used in alloys. Bronze, of 1⁄8 tin and 7⁄8 copper, is popular for tools and weapons as early as 3000 BCE. Another tin alloy is pewter, made of 85 - 90% tin with another metal or alloy.
Polished, tin is a protective coat for other metals, and also used in mirrors. Extraction and use of tin dates back to the early Bronze Age. It replaces copper in alloys due to high content of arsenic found with copper. Tin occurs most commonly in the ore cassiterite.
Spiritually tin is a metal of health, wealth and effortless prosperity. Associated with Jupiter, tin relates to transcendence and higher mental planes. Tin vibrates to the sacral chakra, which rules sexuality, creative expression and emotions. Tin is the metal of the 10th Anniversary due to its resilience, consistency and resistance to rust.
Copper - Venus ♀ Friday
Copper is one of the few metals occurring in nature in usable metallic form, or native metals. Copper is sacred to Roman Goddess Venus and ruled by planet Venus. In the Roman era, copper mines are established on Cyprus, from which the metal name copper is derived.
Copper is essential to all living things. In mollusks and crustaceans, blood is copper-based and looks blue, in contrast to red iron-based blood of other animals. A soft metal, copper is often used in art and alloys. Bronze is a copper-tin alloy; brass combines copper and zinc.
A metal of balance and health, copper relates to positive energy of the spiritual world. Copper purges negative energies and enhances feelings of optimism and positivity. Copper corresponds to calmness and clarity of mind. It's associated with the 7th anniversary.
Lead - Saturn ♄ Saturday
A heavy metal, lead is denser than most materials. Lead is toxic even in small amounts. Lead poisoning through pipes and drinking vessels is thought by some to be a contributing factor in the fall of the Roman Empire.
A neurotoxin, lead builds up in bones and soft tissues. Among other effects it damages the nervous system and can cause neurological disorders from behavioral problems to brain damage.
Lead is often found combined with sulfur. It rarely occurs in native metallic form. In alchemy, lead is the personification of the ego. which must be purified to free the soul. According to the popular medieval concept, metal is created base and "matures" to precious in the ground.
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